One of the more interesting moments in the Manhattan federal courtroom today came as the jury for the Galleon Group insider-trading case was being selected. One of the 12 jurors — a woman by the name of Ms. Suchoff — stood up to announce that she’s friends with 53-year-old Appaloosa hedge fund founder David Tepper.

The juror made the announcement when Judge Richard Holwell, who’s presiding over the case, asked the jurors whether they have friends or family who work for a bank, investment bank, brokerage or hedge fund. The question was to determine if such affiliations could affect their impartiality.

The juror said she has a friend who owns a hedge fund, the name of which she could not recall. But his name, she said, is David Tepper. They go on holidays together, she said.

Neither Holwell nor the prosecutors or defense seemed to object to this revelation. Tepper, whose Short Hills, NJ, firm manages a whopping $15 billion in hedge-fund money, is frequently deemed one of the most successful hedge-fund managers of the last decade.

The judge also instructed the jury that the case is not about the recession and asked whether they could remain impartial to the fact that the case involves the financial industry, hedge funds and very rich people like Rajaratnam.